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Being a member of the armed forces does not affect your rights to make a claim for compensation if you have been injured as the result of a violent crime.

There may be special criteria which apply to your case; however, therefore it is important to seek advice from a personal injury solicitor who has experience of dealing with criminal injury claims as well as experience of dealing with military personnel.

If you are a member of the armed forces and would like one of Thompsons' specialist solicitors to review your criminal injury claim to let you know if we can help you on a cost-free basis, contact us on 08000 224 224.

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How to make a Criminal Injury Claim as a Member of the Armed Forces

Who would my Criminal Assault Claim be made against?

If you are a member of the British Army, Royal Navy or Royal Air Force and you are physically assaulted or attacked within the UK, there are three different ways you can make a personal injury claim for compensation for your injury.

The first is to make a personal injury compensation claim against the assailant directly; however, this may not be recommended as even if your claim is successful, it is difficult to enforce the judgment meaning you may win your case but still never receive the compensation from the guilty party.

The second way to make a personal injury compensation claim would be against the MoD which would only apply if the assault or attack took place in the course of your work and you feel that the Ministry of Defence exposed you to an unnecessary and foreseeable risk of injury which could have been avoided. In cases like this, it may be possible to make a claim against the Ministry of Defence.

The third and probably the most common route to take to make your personal injury claim is to contact the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority. They will consider paying compensation to victims of assaults which have occurred in Great Britain (including British aircraft, hovercraft and ships but not Northern Ireland).

If you are a member of the armed forces and you are physically assaulted or attacked outside of the UK, you may be eligible to make a personal injury compensation claim under the Ministry of Defence’s Criminal Injuries Compensation (Overseas) Scheme. There is also a similar compensation scheme in place within Northern Ireland.

To find out if we can help you make a criminal injury compensation claim on a cost-free basis, complete one of our online personal injury compensation claim forms.

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Special Criteria applying to claims dealt with by the CICA

Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority Criteria

Several special criteria apply to all personal injury compensation claims made via the CICA including those made by military personnel.  Some of those criteria are: -

• A two year deadline for making your compensation claim instead of the usual three year deadline for regular personal injury claims.
• No legal costs are payable, meaning that you must either deal with the CICA directly yourself and keep your full compensation award or appoint a personal injury solicitor to deal with the compensation claim for you and pay them a fee (Trade Union members are sometimes entitled to free legal assistance via their scheme so if you are a Trade Union member you should contact your union in the first instance).
• No injury valued at less that £1,000 will be considered as they deal with compensation claims for serious injuries only.
• Compensation is not paid for the first 28 weeks of lost earnings and the amounts are capped meaning that if you are a high earner, you may not be compensated fully for your time off work.
• It is possible that you could make a personal injury compensation claim through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority as well as against your employer if appropriate; however the amount of compensation you receive from your employer would be deducted from any claim paid by the CICA.

If you would like to discuss the circumstances of your injury caused by a violent crime in more detail to find out if we can help you make a claim for compensation, contact us on 08000 224 224.

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More advice and assistance for Military Personnel who are victims of Criminal Assault

Further help for Members of the Armed Forces who suffer a Criminal Assault

If your injury occurred after 6th April 2005, you may also be entitled to make a personal injury compensation claim via the no fault Armed Forces Compensation Scheme. If your accident was before 6th April 2005, you may also be entitled to make a compensation claim for a War Pension payment. Whilst eligibility to claim under the War Pension system only comes into effect upon discharge, claims under the Armed Forces Compensation scheme can be made during service and therefore you should not wait until you leave the Armed Forces to start your claim, you should act immediately. Under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme there is a 7 year time limit so it is important to act quickly as soon as an accident happens.

For more advice about whether you are entitled to make a claim for compensation after suffering an injury as a result of a criminal assault, complete one of our online personal injury compensation claim forms.

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Start a Criminal Injury Compensation Claim

How to begin a claim for Criminal Injury Compensation

Thompsons Solicitors are experts in all personal injury matters. We will be able to advise you whether or not you have a valid claim for compensation. Our specialist personal injury lawyers will be happy to talk you through the process of making a claim in plain English and will be happy to answer any questions or queries you may have. If you do have a valid personal injury compensation claim and you decide to instruct Thompsons Solicitors to deal with the matter for you, we will recover our legal fees from the person responsible for your injury, ensuring that the entire procedure is cost-free for you. Telephone us now on 08000 224 224 or complete one of our online personal injury compensation claim forms.

There are strict time limits in place to make any injury claim.  For further information, contact us or visit our Questions Answered page.

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